Message from Internet

Brian says:
> Ensoniq builds reliable products. They sound pretty
> good. Other companies have flashier technology,
> but Ensoniq's synths sound about as excellent as
> anything out there.

I've owned many Ensoniq products, and am sold on them. But those statements
strike me as a little surprising. I have found over the years that:
* Ensoniq NOW builds reliable products. One of their former dealers here in
Austin said that they had big problems with mechanical integrity, expecially
on the road. But that's very definitely in the past now. My ASR-10 has got
to be one of the heaviest machines in its class, and I treasure every pound
in its steel case!
* Ensoniq's machines NOW sound great. That's probably true ever since the
EPS 16+. The original EPS I had could produce some fairly natural sounding
instrument timbres, but it was noisy. It was at least an order magnitude
quieter than the Mirage that preceded it, but it could have been better. My
ASR-10 though is very quiet, and the sounds it can produce really excellent
sounds.
* Ensoniq's technology has always struck me as right up there with the best.
As far as I know, they were the first to produce an affordable sampler, the
first to provide polyphonic aftertouch in an affordable sampler, the first to
provide complete tuning tables in a sampler, and, if behind at all, then not
much behind in providing effects processors in a sampler. When it comes to
bang for the buck at any point on the technology-per-time scale, it seems
like Ensoniq has always been an excellent choice.
* People have in the past complained about their documentation and support being
skimpy. That too is all in the past if you ask me. The documentation for my
ASR-10 I have found to be voluminous, easy to read, well-indexed, and usable
both as a tutorial and as a reference. It has lots of clear illustrations,
meaningful examples, and makes it easy to find little tips and short-cuts
that aren't obvious from experimentation. Also the IQ of their technical
support staff seems to have risen about 20 points in the past five years, and
they seem to have a few more open phone lines as well.


Received: from eartha.mills.edu [144.91.3.20] by vbv40.ezh.nl
with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Tue, 31 Oct 1995 19:05 +0100
Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI)
for id JAA04687; Tue, 31 Oct 1995 09:05:31 -0800
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 1995 09:05:31 -0800
Message-Id: <199510311709.MAA02004@cerberus.Ensoniq.COM>
Errors-To: madole@ella.mills.edu
Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu
Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu
Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu

Ladies and Gents:

I am working, as time permits, on a home page for Harry Partch and Lou Harrison
which will serve as resource material for a course entitled "American Icons:
The Works of Lou Harrison, Ben Johnston, Harry Partch and James Tenney" to be
taught at San Jose State University by Brian Belet and myself. Both pages will
share a "Tuning Page" documenting various historical-t- hysterical tunings and
scales. If you have anything you would like to contribute please send it to me
directly [strange@sjsuvm1.sjsu.edu] and I'll add it in with appropriate
credits and acknowledgments.

Thanks in advance-

Allen Strange

=========================================================================
| Allen Strange |
| http://cadre.sjsu.edu/music/strange.html |
|_______________________________________________________________________|
| Electro-Acoustic Music | International Computer Music Association |
| Studios | 2040 Polk St., Suite 330 |
| School of Music | San Francisco, CA 94109 |
| San Jose State University | Telephone + (408) 395-2538 |
| 1 Washington Square | Fax + (408) 395-2648 |
| San Jose, CA 95192-0095 | Email: icma@sjsuvm1.sjsu.edu |
| Telephone +(408) 924-4646 | |
| Fax +(408) 924-4773 | We hope to see you at the ICMC96 |
| | On the Edge in Hong Kong |
| | ICMC96@cs.ust.hk for info |
|=======================================================================

Received: from eartha.mills.edu [144.91.3.20] by vbv40.ezh.nl
with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Tue, 31 Oct 1995 20:27 +0100
Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI)
for id KAA08026; Tue, 31 Oct 1995 10:27:18 -0800
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 1995 10:27:18 -0800
Message-Id: <9510311026.aa20644@cyber.cyber.net>
Errors-To: madole@ella.mills.edu
Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu
Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu
Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu